Are these the best police sketches ever? Guinness World Records and artist’s success rate prove they probably are

There are many ways to solve a crime – and Houston’s Lois Gibson is a testament to that fact.

The world’s most successful forensic artist has helped bring in more than 1,300 criminals with her incredible life-like drawings.

The 64-year-old said her knack for producing such accurate sketches is as much down to empathy and as it is to skill with pencils and pastels.

This sketch was constructed six years after a girl was assaulted at the age of seven. The girl, who had cerebral palsy and could not speak, could only blink for “yes” and “no”. Yet using her amazing knack for empathising with the victim and her artistic skill, Ms Gibson ensured the suspect was identified within days of the sketch’s creation, and the 13-year-old finally saw justice.

This man was identified six years after his crime thanks to Gibson’s sketch (Picture: Lois Gibson)

The witness who gave this description was a police officer who was shot three times and ran over with his vehicle, which dragged him more than 55ft. The officer’s head injuries were so severe that he does not remember the interview with Gibson, but she was nonetheless able to produce a sketch that directly lead to the arrest of the perpetrator.

The officer who gave this description does not remember the interview (Picture: Lois Gibson)

The description for this man was given by two 12-year-old girls who were roller-blading when a stranger emerged from the woods completely naked and started chasing them. A detective returning from a fishing trip thought a man driving a van looked like the sketch. He took down the licence number and the case was soon solved.

This man chased two 12-year-olds who were roller-blading (Picture: Lois Gibson)

The description of this woman was given by a mother who had her 10-hour-old baby kidnapped from her hospital room. The perpetrator was identified within hours of the sketch release.

The woman kidnapped a 10-year-old baby (Picture: Lois Gibson)

This sketch was done from a description given by the roommate of the murder victim. Within 15 minutes of the sketch’s release on local media, several members of the suspect’s family called detectives and turned him in.

Family members immediately recognised their relative in the sketch (Picture: Lois Gibson)

‘One hundred percent of all the witnesses say they can’t remember well enough to do a sketch,’ Gibson told the Huffington Post.

‘It’s getting them to remember the last thing they want to remember … I’m sitting there with somebody who’s been through the worst thing of their life.’

And Gibson revealed that she was a victim of a brutal sexual assault when she was a 21 – something that she feels makes her able to empathise deeply with witnesses and victims.